Germany's foreign minister has arrived in Saudi Arabia for a two day visit to discuss fighting the Islamic State, according to a Sunday statement from Germany's Federal Foreign Office. Frank-Walter Steinmeier will meet with his counterpart, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, as well as the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Eyad Madani. Several German media outlets on Sunday suggested that Steinmeier will also discuss military deals with Al-Faisal. The statement from the German ministry quoted Steinmeier stressing Saudi Arabia's "important role in the international coalition which is fighting IS, and engaging in solving the current crisis in the Middle East." A conference was held in Jeddah to discuss means to combat the Islamic militant group, and was attended by Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and five other Gulf states. Steinmeier is also due to meet with a number of Saudi women who work in the civil society sector, the first time for such a meeting, the statement said. Germany has contributed to the fight against IS by giving military and humanitarian assistance to Kurds and the army in north Iraq, where the group has recently seized large swathes of territory. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/112932.aspx
